The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-05-04
THE GARROTE.
A VIVID PICTURE OF CAPITAL
PUNISHMENT IN SPAIN.
Crowds Of GaiIy Dressed Men and
Women at the Place of Exc
cution The Prisoners
Iron Collar Of Death.

describes the garroting of Alvarez Olivia
for the murder of Juan Ximenes. q notary.
Says the writer: The foreigner who this
morning saw the Puerto del Sor the first
time would have thought Madrid had
gone wild with noisy merriment-just as
upon the occasion of some royal ceremony
at the ancient church of Antocha, or
of some great bull fight exhibition under
the management of Cartijo Mazzantini.
Riding superb Andalusian horses with
small heads and finely arched necks-
horses that seemed to have stepped out of
some canvas by Velasquez-the elegant
yonng men of the city passed by at q
canter, all delicately gloved and wearing
tuberoses at their buttonholes, as if they
were going to the Retro to wait for the
advent of the open carriage of some belle.
1t was o'clock in the morning when /
left my house. Although the heat was
already overwhelming, I resolved to 60
| on foot from the corner of the Gale de
Alcala to the place of execution. The
nearer 1 approached the square the more
compact became the crowd. To proceed
at all soon became impossible. The
crowding and pushing, however, only in
creased the merriment of the mischievous
! girls of Madrid.
Suddenly the crowd halts and great
silence falls. A close carriage, with
blinds down, escorted bya picket of civil
guards, slowly passes through the press.
We can follow it without hurrying our
selves.
In little while the place of. execution
appears before me, thronged with null
titude swaying like a tide, and up from
the sea of heads emerges the white mast
of the scatfo1d.
Iapproach.
Lying upon a stool, covered with q
snow white cloth, is the garrote itself
shimme1ing like crown of Steel. In a
little while the executioner will attach it
to post against which the criminal is to
be fastened. The final preparations con-
sumed considerable time, so that I was
we'll able to make leisurely examination
of the sinister locality whittier curiosity
had drawn me for the purpose of study
ing the physiognomy of the great pushing
or squeezing crowd. As always, and in
all places, the women were the most nu-
merous. The plaza where the execution
took place is on very high ground, and
the pure air one breathes there must in
crease the criminals regret for life at the
moment when his respiration is about to
be cut short forever. The houses sur
rounding it, mostly of humble aspect, are
widely interspaced, Between them q
stranger who loves classic landscapes can
obtain a good view of the sunburned and
yellow plains of Nueva Castillo and the
blush mountains of Guadamara in the
horizon.
The deploy of military forces about the
scaffold was considerable. counted no
less than six detachments of different
corps. There were lancers with Prussian
shaped helmets of brass, gendarmes in
black with yellow straps and belts and
white trimmings, blue uniformed light
cavalry, infantry, provincial guards with
red caps. The martial department Of
men, nearly all young, strong and hand
some, impressed me very much.
Now there is a great movement around
the scaffold. The soldiers close their
ranks and three men approach the scat
fold. One of them ascends it. 1t is the
executioner. He is thin, low-sized and
looks about forty years old. While wait
ing for his victim he keeps walking ner-
vously to and fro with his hands behind
his back and his head down. From time
to time he stops and looks at the argoila
0he 'sgarrote') with suspicious expires.
sion of countcnance. Perhaps he is afraid
of the power of resistance possessed by
the ceryr al yertcbra of Alvarez, and Is
therefore afraid of losing his bounty.
Noisy as it was little while ago, the
crowd now suddenly becomes silent.
Some women ore turning pale; and one
can feel that o nervous excitement weighs
upon the crowd. A low rumbling is heard.
1t is the black carriage that bears the con-
demued man. 1t stops at the foot OF the
scafold; and the criminal is soon pain
fully climbing the twelve high steps OF
the dismal scaffold, leaning on the arm
of priest. Another priest precedes him,
lifting very high an immense orucifx, to-
ward which the condemned man strives to
turn his terror-stricken face. Alvarez
Olivia is not yet twenty-five years old;
and it was believed that the savage energy
he had displayed in committing his crime:
together with his vigorous youth, would
give him strength to face death. But
nothing of the kind is now shown by
him; and really it was too much to eS-
pect Of man who knew his fate forty
eight hours ago, and who, while listening
to the funeral chants in the prison chapel,
must have behcld all kinds of hideous
visions passing before him.
As stood on an elevation overlooking
the scatfold, was able to observe all the
details of the last scene Of the tragedy.
The condemned man mechanically
yielded himself up to the executioner:
The latter sat him down at the loot OF
the post, with his back to 1t, and then
tied his hands and feet hard and fast.
He did all this without hurrying himself
in the least, and with all that dlgnltled
indifference which characterizes the
Spanish functionary in the discharge OF
his duty. If the preparations had lastea
even few seconds longer l believe
should have lost all my own self-controf.
I could hear my heart humping IN my
breast, and every moment or two some
thing like veil came before my eyes.
You could not hear even whisper in
the crowd. While one of the priests
pressed crucifx to the colorless lips of
the sufferer, another was murmuring
words of consolation and hope into his
ear. But the wretchcd man was not listen
ing. His expressionless face had waxen
pallor, and his eyes, as they wandered
over the ocean of faces before him, al
ready seemed dim with the dimness of